A dog named Scout and an executive editor named Abramson

It’s one of those days when I am missing not only an original thought, but any thought at all.

No worries. I offer instead this engaging review of a book about a dog named Scout and middle-aged empty nester Jill Abramson.

The reviewer, John Grogan, must be a brave soul because who else in his or her right mind would critique a book written by the newish editor of the New York Times?

Anyhoo, here’s the beginning of the review, and please, follow the link.

A few years ago while in Carmel, Calif., I spotted a man struggling to control a golden retriever lunging down the sidewalk on a leash.

That scene came to mind as I read Jill Abramson’s “Puppy Diaries: Raising a Dog Named Scout.” Ms. Abramson, the executive editor of The New York Times, is a powerful journalist few would dream of discounting. She built her career as a hard-nosed investigative reporter with

Jill Abramson cuddles her mid-life assistant, Scout.

the ability, by her own account, to intimidate colleagues and sources alike. And yet, when it comes to her dogs, she pleads guilty to being a hopeless pushover.

When the dog owner turned I immediately recognized him as Leon Panetta, the former chief of staff to President Clinton and soon-to-be-named director of the C.I.A. and, later, secretary of defense. Here was one of the world’s most powerful men, and yet in the battle between man and canine, well, let’s just say he could have used reinforcements. …